4 Days in Siem Reap: First-Timer Plan
Four days gives you room to do Angkor properly and add a Tonlé Sap village and a countryside day without rushing. Buy the 3-day Angkor Pass ($62, any 3 days within a 10-day window) from Angkor Enterprise - the office or ticket.angkorenterprise.gov.kh - and save your fourth day for the parts that don’t need it.
Day 1
Ease in with the Angkor National Museum for context on the Khmer Empire before you see the temples themselves. In the afternoon, browse Psar Chas, the Old Market, for souvenirs and street food - haggling is normal. For sunset, head to Phnom Bakheng, but know it caps at 300 visitors on the summit, so arrive by 4pm or you may not get up in time.
Day 1 tip: buy your Angkor Pass today if you haven’t already, so tomorrow’s early start isn’t held up at the ticket office.
Day 2
Start at 4:30am for sunrise at Angkor Wat. If you want to reach the Bakan, the upper level, wear real sleeves and long pants or a skirt - a draped scarf won’t get past the dress-code check there. From Angkor Wat, move to Angkor Thom: the South Gate, the Bayon’s 216 carved faces, and the Terrace of the Elephants. Lunch runs $5-10 near the gates. In the afternoon, visit Ta Prohm for the tree-root ruins, then rest before dinner on Pub Street ($15-25).
Day 2 tip: hire your tuk-tuk driver for the full day (around $20-25) rather than negotiating rides between stops.
Day 3
Take a boat tour to a Tonlé Sap floating village - choose Kampong Phluk or Kampong Khleang over Chong Khneas, since Chong Khneas is worn down by fake-orphanage donation requests and inflated boat-tour add-ons that the other two villages don’t have. The lake looks completely different by season: full and wide in the wet months, stilts over mud in the dry season. In the afternoon, stop at Artisans Angkor for a free workshop tour of the Khmer-craft revival behind their products, then have dinner back in town.
Day 3 tip: book your boat tour through a reputable operator in advance rather than through a driver who offers to arrange it on the spot - that’s exactly how the add-on scams get sold.
Day 4
Spend today on a bike or car tour of the countryside and the Roluos Group, the empire’s earliest 9th-century temples, included on the standard Angkor Pass. Along the way you’ll pass rice paddies and rural villages rarely seen by visitors who only do the main circuits. Return to town by late afternoon for a final look at the night market or a spa visit before your departure.
Day 4 tip: confirm your airport transfer time with the new Siem Reap-Angkor International Airport (SAI) in mind - it’s 45-75 minutes from town, not the old in-town airport, so leave more buffer than you’d expect.
Read more: the full Siem Reap Travel Guide 2026: What to Know covers the Angkor Pass and separate-ticket temples in detail, and 3 Days in Siem Reap: First-Timer Plan shows the tighter version of this same trip.